The UN Climate Secretariat UNFCCC postpones the COP 26 climate summit, which was scheduled to be held in Glasgow in November this year.

The Climate Secretariat writes in a press release that it is no longer possible to hold an ambitious and inclusive meeting because of the global impact of the corona pandemic.

A new date for the Glasgow Summit, organized by the UK and Italy, will be drawn up in collaboration with stakeholders, according to the UNFCCC.

"Don't lose momentum"

“The Corona crisis threatens life and health worldwide and means that the important preparatory work in getting countries to raise their climate ambitions for COP26 cannot happen as planned. But that does not mean that climate work is paused, ”says Swedish Environment and Climate Minister Isabella Lövin (MP) in a written comment.

She also writes that she should have contact with colleagues so as not to "lose momentum".

“It is extremely important that the economic recovery after this crisis is climate-secure. This is the issue that will be the most important in view of the great economic impact of the Corona crisis, ”says Lövin.

Hard to meet digitally

Mattias Frumerie, head of Sweden's delegation, says that climate work risks being delayed when the meeting is postponed, especially in negotiations on emission rights and on a framework for transparency in other countries' emissions.

- It is clear that there will be a delay when such a central meeting cannot be conducted, nor does the preparatory work have the pace that we had hoped. But at the same time, it is fully understandable because the world must make sure that it can handle the covid-19 crisis, says Frumerie.

The travel restrictions of the Corona crisis mean that meetings all over the world are held by video link rather than in physical rooms, but such a solution is more difficult to implement at an international summit because the countries are in different time zones and do not have the same access to broadband.

-There are some practical elements to do when meeting meetings with representatives of many of the world's countries. But of course they can be solved, hopefully it will help us find new ways of working, he says.